[robotics-worldwide] 2nd CFP: Symposium on Language and Robots'2007

[Luis Seabra Lopes]

*** Apologies for cross-postings ***

  
Call for papers

SYMPOSIUM ON LANGUAGE AND ROBOTS 2007

10-12 December 2007
Universidade de Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal
http://www.ieeta.pt/langro2007


This Symposium on Language and Robots (LangRo'2007),
organized by the Distributed Language Group
(http://www.psy.herts.ac.uk/dlg), aims to explore
synergies and identify areas of collaboration between
robotics and the language sciences. As starting
point for the discussions, a perspective is proposed in
which language is seen as a dynamic and distributed
cognitive process.

There are two obvious contact areas between robotics
and the language sciences. In the first, robots can be
used as simulation models for the empirical study of
language origins, evolution and acquisition. This is
an extension of the computational modeling approach to
language. In the second area, we ask how viewing language
as integral to cultural processes can be used in
developing robots for practical applications.

The symposium will therefore explore the following
issues:

- How can robots ground and use language for practical
   applications?
- How can robots be used for empirical work in the
   language sciences?
- How can robots acquire language when language is
   distributed?
- What does robotics imply for the language sciences?
- What questions do roboticists want to ask the language
   sciences?
- How can the language sciences contribute to the
   theoretical and practical study of how humans
   interact with robots?
- How can the language sciences evolve to address
   societies that include robots?

We invite papers that address these issues.


Symposium format
================
The symposium will be a 2+ days event that gathers
researchers from a wide range of backgrounds. The
symposium format includes a number of Invited Speakers
and a public call for papers. Invited speakers and
authors responding to the public call are invited to
submit a two page abstract for presentation at the
symposium. Alternatively, they may submit a full-length
paper. Submitted abstracts and papers will be refereed
and selected for half-hour oral presentations on the basis
of quality and relevance to the issues the symposium
is addressing. Accepted papers will be included in
the proceedings and will be made accessible through
the web. Copies of the proceedings will be available
at the symposium.


Invited Speakers
================
We are inviting a range of speakers who will bring their
specialized expertise to bear on the issues around
language and robots. The following speakers have
already provisionally accepted our invitation:

Deb Roy
MIT Media Laboratory, MA, USA

Gerhard Sagerer
Bielefeld University, Germany

Luc Steels
Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium

Michael Anderson
University of Maryland, MD, USA

Paul Thibault
Agder University College, Kristiansand, Norway


Journal special issue
=====================
After the symposium, participants will be invited to
submit a paper to a special issue of "Connection Science".
Papers will be selected based on an independent peer
review.


Important dates
===============
Deadline for submission of abstract or paper: 10 September 
2007
Notification of acceptance: 10 October 2007
Symposium: 10-12 December 2007


Submission
==========
Authors can submit either an abstract or a full paper,
both will be considered for full length oral presentation.
Full papers can have a length of between 6 and 10 pages,
abstracts can have a maximum length of 2 pages.

Submission should be sent to langro2007 (at det.ua.pt)
in either MS Word or Adobe PDF format.

Organizers
==========
Luís Seabra Lopes (Universidade de Aveiro, Portugal)
Tony Belpaeme (University of Plymouth, United Kingdom)
Stephen Cowley (University of Hertfordshire, United 
Kingdom)
  
__________________________________________
Luis Seabra Lopes (lsl at ua.pt)
  
Departamento de Electrónica, Telecomunicações e 
Informática
Universidade de Aveiro - 3810-193 Aveiro - Portugal
Phone: +351-234-370374 / Fax: +351-234-381128